Memphis blues band Southern Avenue will make their Southwestern Ontario debut at Rockstar Music Hall on December 7 and then the following night at the Kent-Belgian-Dutch-Canadian Club in Chatham.  The 2018 Blues Music Award winners are hot off their European Tour, which saw the band playing 16 shows in 9 countries, and these concerts will be some of their first ever in Canada.

Earlier in September, Southern Avenue first appeared on Canadian soil at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick alongside such legendary headliners as Steve Earle, Mavis Staples, Holy Cole, Five Alarm Funk and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Named after a Memphis street that runs from the easternmost part of the city limits all the way to Soulsville, the original home of Stax Records, Southern Avenue embodies its home city's soul, blues and gospel traditions, while adding a youthful spirit and dynamic energy all their own.

The band plans to play some music from their forthcoming Stax Records album at these shows.

In the future, when blues fans look back, many will wonder who attended the first Canadian concerts for Southern Avenue. Will that be you? The Canada South Blues Society presents Southern Avenue at Rockstar Music Hall on December 7 and the Kent-Belgian-Dutch-Canadian Club in Chatham on Dec. 8.